Tool for the application of seals



March 10, 1953 H. NlERHAUS TOOL FOR APPLICATI ON OF SEALS Filed July 1, 1949 Patented Mar. 10,. 1953 TOOL FOR THE APPLICATION OF SEALS Henry Nierhaus, Scarsdale, N. Y., assignor to Stoflel Seals Corporation, Tuckahoe, N. Y.

Application July 1, 1M9, Serial No. 102,520

The invention relates to sealing tools and more particularly to a special tool for guiding a seal tag equipped with teeth or prongs which are driven. into wood or other penetratable material, such as plastic composition, soft metal, etc.

The type of seal for which the novel tool is intended is disclosed in an application Ser. No. 102,519, filed July 1, 19519, and consists of a single metal stamping having a face surface for carrying indicia, the rim of which comprises a plurality of teeth or prongs adapted to be driven into wood, the seal being intended to cover up the bung of a wooden cask. To make the seal tamperproof, it is stamped of thin metal and provided with a curled rim which would easily be crushed or damaged if the seal were driven into the wood merely by means of a hammer or similar conventional tool.

The object of the invention is to provide a special tool for the purpose set forth, which guides the teeth of the seal while the latter is driven into the wood, and protects the seal against distortion or damage during the attaching operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tool which coins the seal in the attaching operation so that it conforms to the curved surface to which the seal is applied, since it is desirable that the attached seal fits snugly to the wooden cask so that no part is protruding from the surface.

A further object is to incorprate means to accurately index the tool in relation with the seal so that if the tool has been removed before the seal is fully attached, it may be relocated in the exact position to finish the attaching operation. Since the protrusion of the seal above the surface of the wood must be a minimum, the omission of such means would make it difficult to match the tool with theseal again, so that in a second application of the tool the seal might be damaged.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings submitted for the purpose of illustration and not to define the scope of the invention, reference being had for that purpose to the subjoined claims. In the drawing, wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the tool; Fig. 2, a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a bottom view in the direction of arrow 3 of Fig. 1; and

2 Claims. (Cl. l--5S) Fig. 4, a fragmentary perspective view of a typical seal tag for which the tool is intended.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of elements illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not limitation.

The tool comprises a guide member or body Iii in which slides a punch ll having an exchangeable button or protective cap l2 at its upper extremity, the screw stud I3 being part of button it and serving to secure the latter to the punch. Bore it of body Ill is adapted to receive a seal tag or cap 15 such as shown in Fig. 4, so as to give teeth It the proper support. The face ll of the seal is placed against the bottom 18 of punch H, the central concave portion of bottom it allowing a clearance with the face of the seal. An annular groove l9 conforms in its crosssection with the curled rim 2|] of the seal, but this groove is on a curved plane to conform to the surface of a barrel or wooden cask. Surface 2! also conforms with the curved barrel surface and is intended to contact the area of face I! next to rim 2!). In order to maintain the curved plane of punch H in a fixed relation with guide H), the latter has a keyway 22 in which slides :a pin. 23 pressed into hole 24 which extends through the center of the thinner portion or stem 25 of punch I I sliding in bore 26. The hole also serves to accommodate a spring 21 acting against a ball 28 which snaps into detent hole 29 when the punch is raised in relation to guide l0, whereby the punch will remain in the raised or loading position against the weight of the punch. llhe guide It has a pair of pointed pins 30 extending from bosses 3! a short distance beyond the lower edge 32 (which is curved like the bottom of punch H) so that when the tool is placed in location on the wooden cask, the pins may be driven into the wood by tapping bosses 3| lightly with a hammer, or by a light blow on guard 33, the latter being provided as a flange extending from the upper portion of guide Ill and serving to protect the hand of the operator as the punch I3 is driven down with a hammer.

In the application of the seal to a wooden cask, the seal is inserted into bore ll so that the curled rim 2!! is in contact with annular groove l9. The seal fits snugly into bore l4 and is held there by slight friction. Though the teeth of the seal may be considered to be disposed perpendicular to the plane of the face, due to the resilience of the metal the tip of the teeth spring outwardly a slight degree when the seal is removed from the die in which it is manufactured. Thus the rim fits freely into bore 14, and the friction is provided at the outer portions of the teeth. Another desirable feature obtained is to bias the teeth to flare or buckle outwardly when forced into the wood, since the guide is provided only on the outside, and acts to support the teeth against flaring or buckling outwardly While the seal is driven into the wood. After the seal has been inserted into bore 14, the tool is positioned over the bung of the cask so that the curved surface of edge 32 conforms with the curved surface of the cask, whereby the pins 30 are lateral relative to the staves and tend to straddle them.

After the tool is thus positioned, the operator taps on bosses 3! or flange 33 to drive the pins into the wood so that-edge 32 is in contact with the surface of the cask. Then, while holding guide it against the wood, he uses a hammer or mallet on button 12 to drive the seal into the wood. The small holes produced by pins 39 serve to relocate the tool if it has been removed before the seal is fully attached. Though seal 15 is manufactured to have 'a fiat face, after it has be'enattached, the i'aceand rim 29 are coined to conform tightly with the curved surface of the cask.

To break the seal for access to the bung the center portion is ripped off, leaving the teeth in place. However, if tampering is attempted to remove the seal intact, breakage would occur as explained in the patent application previously referred to.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A manually operated sealing tool for securing a .pronged seal tag to a wooden cask, where said seal tag has a curled rim and prongs approximately perpendicular to the plane of said seal, a guide member adapted to guide said seal tagwhile it is to be driven into said cask, apunch 4 slidable in said guide member and provided with a groove to receive the curled rim of said seal tag, means to limit the stroke of said punch and to keep said punch in assembled relationship with said guide member, said guide member being curved to conform with the curved surface of said cask, means to prevent rotation of said punch with relation to said guide member and pointed pins fixed to said guide member and located thereon so as to be driven into said cask to facilitate relocation of said tool with relation to said cask in the original position of said tool.

2. A sealing tool for securing a seal tag having a curled rim to a curved article of wood and like penetratable material; comprising a guide member adapted to guide said seal tag while it is to be driven into said material, a punch slidable in said guide member and provided with a groove to receive the curled rim of said seal tag, said guide member being provided with a curved end to conform same to the curved surface of said article, means adapted to prevent rotation of said punch with relation to said guide member, and pointed pins located on said guide member and to be driven into said article to thereby index the location of said punch after removal thereof from its original position with relation to said article.

HENRY NIERHAUS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references .are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 627,407 Frankel June 20, 1899 322,913 Brooks June 12, 1906 1,222,129 Polkowski Apr. 10, 1917 1,450,203 Brown Apr. '3, 1923 1,567,924 Dingwall Dec. 29, 1925 2,020,389 West -c Nov. 12, 1935 2,199,833 Fleishman May '7, 1940 2,488,279 Eitzmaurice Nov. 15, 1949 

